The Tigrens' Glory (Soul-Linked Saga) (Volume 9)

by Laura Jo Phillips

  They all froze. Kirk leaned back, releasing her clit, but she barely noticed as she stared down into Kyerion’s face. He was smiling up at her with a rather smug look on his face, but she had no idea why.

  “What is it?” Kirk asked.

  “She’s untouched,” Kyerion said.

  Kirk’s eyes widened, then he shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe. We need to remember that this is a dream. We could be projecting some things.”

  Glory was immediately hurt, then insulted, and finally, furious. “Of course I am untouched,” she growled, pulling free of their hands so suddenly that they didn’t have a chance of preventing it. She tugged on her hair until Cade released it, then backed away from them. She saw her clothing on the ground at their feet, but no way was she going close enough for them to touch her. She didn’t think she’d be able to stand that at the moment. She met Kyerion’s shocked gaze, but refused to look at Kirk.

  “On Ramouri, an accusation such as that would destroy a woman’s life,” Glory said. “Most women would have no recourse, no way to prove their innocence other than to allow a public examination of her body to demonstrate that her hymen was still intact. The shame of such an examination would insure that no decent man would ever wish to take her as wife.”

  “As a warrior, I’d be expected to challenge you. If I didn’t, everyone would believe me guilty of the deceit you accuse me of, and name me defiled one. Slut. Whore. I’d be shunned by all decent Ramourians for allowing my body to be corrupted outside of marriage, and for attempting to deceive three innocent men into believing me pure. If I lost the challenge, even against the three of you at once, all would believe it a fair punishment for my deceit. If I won, all would believe it proof that I am not a true woman, for no woman should be capable of besting a single male in combat, let alone three.”

  She had a few other things she wanted to say, but she felt tears spring to her eyes and decided she’d rather die than let these men see her cry. She turned and ran to the river. The stepping stones were gone, which seemed odd, but she gave them little thought. She plunged into the water, waded across as fast as she could manage, glad that the water only reached her thighs since she didn’t know how to swim, dream or not. It took only a couple of minutes to reach the safety of the far side. Her side. She went to her hands and knees in the sand and closed her eyes, willing herself to wake up.

  A moment later she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling above her bed, her heart racing as she tried to catch her breath. Her body was painfully aroused, her skin covered in a thin film of sweat. She swung her legs off the bed and padded into the bathroom. She wrapped her braid around her head and pinned it in place to keep it dry, then dropped her pajamas to the floor and stepped into the shower. As she let the cool water flow over her body she replayed the dream in her mind, searching for any clue that would tell her whether or not the Tigren had actually been there.

  Her feeling that one side of the river was hers, while the other side was theirs, hinted that the Tigren controlled what happened on one side of the river, while she controlled the other. On the other hand, she’d dreamed of them for years, and that’s all they’d been. Dreams. Then again, she’d never remembered her dreams of them once she woke up, and she certainly remembered this one. By the time she turned off the water and reached for a towel she was no closer to knowing the truth one way or the other.

  She dried off, then left the bathroom for a fresh pair of pajamas. She spotted her reader on the dresser and frowned. She’d been reading a shockingly explicit story earlier in the evening. Maybe that had caused the dream. She thought of the story, comparing it in her mind to her dream. Her face heated as she realized there were several similarities between the two. She sighed with relief as she pulled on clean pajamas and let her hair down before climbing back into bed. It had been just a dream. Thank goodness. She wasn’t altogether certain how she’d ever face the Tigren again if it had been more than that.

  ***

  “That didn’t end well,” Kyerion said tightly.

  “I truly didn’t mean it the way she thought,” Kirk said, getting to his feet. “I meant only that we shouldn’t expect her to be as we wanted.” He shook his head. “Even that sounds bad, though I don’t mean it in a bad way. I don’t care what she looks like, or whether she’s a virgin or not, I’ll still want her and care about her. That’s all I meant. I’ll apologize to Glory the next time we see her, and try to make her understand what I meant.”

  “That may not be a good idea,” Cade said. “She will probably think what happened was just a dream. It’s probably better for all of us if we leave it that way.”

  “I want her to know that was really us touching her in the only way we can,” Kyerion said. “If we are never found, never rescued from wherever it is our bodies currently reside, it will be the closest we’ll ever get to making love to her.”

  “I wanted that too,” Kirk said. “But I want it to be a good memory, and after what just happened, it won’t be.”

  “Let’s see how she reacts to us the next time she Dream Walks,” Cade suggested. “After that, we can decide what to do. Maybe we can admit the truth to her, or visit her again.”

  “You’re right, Cade,” Kyerion said. “That’s the best idea.”

  “I hope her reactions are as she projected them,” Kirk said. “She was so hot, and so responsive to us.”

  “She was…is…amazing,” Kyerion said. “The only thing missing was her scent and taste. I’d give just about anything to taste her.”

  “We need to change the subject,” Cade said. “I know we’re in a dream state, but I’m still in pain here.”

  Kyerion laughed. “You are not alone, brother. Perhaps we should take a dip in that cold river.

  The brothers fell silent as they created a bridge with their minds and crossed the river. They climbed the rise, returning to the center of their projection of Glory’s valley. “I’m troubled by what she just revealed about her world,” Kirk said as they walked past the heavy door. “It’s vile that any woman would be treated with such little honor and respect by a single man, let alone an entire society.”

  “I hate the thought of her growing up in such an environment,” Kyerion said. “Fortunately, she will never return there.”

  “I’m not sure her plan of traveling alone through the galaxy is much better than living on Ramouri, regardless of how primitive the planet sounds,” Cade said.

  “We need to find a way to help Glory find us,” Kyerion said. “So far every attempt I’ve made to awaken myself has failed. Have either of you come up with any ideas?”

  “Nothing of use,” Kirk said. “If we had Spirit, there is much we could do.”

  “True,” Cade agreed. “But then, if we could access our magic we wouldn’t need Spirit to begin with.”

  “Let’s return to our own minds so we can rest up for our next visit with Glory,” Kyerion said. “Maybe something will come to us.” Before Kyerion was finished speaking Cade’s eyes widened and his body faded quickly before his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Kyerion’s gaze went to Kirk, who was frowning at the spot where Cade had stood when he, too, faded away. Then Kyerion felt his energy drain away in an instant. He fought it, willing himself to remain in the rapidly vanishing valley, but it was no use. A heartbeat later he, too, was gone, as was the valley itself.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Did you receive the summons from Mother?” Narliq-Li asked Zarnia-Te.

  “Of course,” Zarnia-Te replied. “Xaqana-Ti didn’t waste any time, did she?”

  “No, she didn’t,” Narliq-Li replied. “How do you plan to respond?”

  “I haven’t had a chance to read it, not that it matters,” Zarnia-Te said. “I’ll get to it later.”

  “I don’t think you’ll want to decline,” Narliq-Li said.

  “Why not?” Zarnia-Te asked, her tone suddenly suspicious. “We agreed on this.”

  “We did,” Narliq-Li sai
d. “Unfortunately, the Summons states specifically that if we fail to present ourselves at Palace Hive on the day and time indicated, she will cut our strands from the Great Web.”

  Zarnia-Te froze in shock. “She can’t do that.”

  “Of course she can,” Narliq-Li said. “She’s the Supreme Queen.”

  “Failure to attend a meeting is not just cause for that level of punishment,” Zarnia-Te retorted sharply.

  “I’m not sure that annihilation can properly be termed a punishment,” Narliq-Li said. “Just cause or not, we must attend, so that’s an end to it.”

  “When?” Zarnia-Te asked.

  “Two days,” Narliq-Li replied. I’ve already sent my acceptance, and I suggest you do the same.”

  “I shall,” Zarnia-Te replied. “How many ships do you have left?”

  “Less than half,” Narliq-Li replied. “You?”

  “The same,” Zarnia-Te replied. “I was hoping we could grab a few of Xitura-Re’s ships, but Xaqana-Ti has finally remembered they’re there, and hers by right of conquest. My spies report that she’s given orders for them to be prepared for launch.”

  “If she launches all of them, we’ll be finished,” Narliq-Li pointed out. “Even with our forces combined, we’ll be hopelessly outnumbered.”

  “It will take at least three, maybe four days to prep that many ships for launch,” Zarnia-Te replied. “I think this meeting between us, Mother, and Xaqana-Ti is the perfect opportunity for us to finish this once and for all.”

  “Agreed,” Narliq-Li said. “The longer this goes on, the more Xanti ships are destroyed. Once you’re Queen Mother, you’ll surely want there to be some ships remaining.”

  “Precisely,” Zarnia-Te said. “The more I think on this, the more I see how easy this will be for us. Killing Mother will require very little effort. She is old and weak.”

  “Unless Xaqana-Ti defends her.”

  “Why would she?” Zarnia-Te asked. “It’s to her benefit to have Mother out of the way.”

  “It’s not to her benefit to fight both of us at once, without aid,” Narliq-Li pointed out. “Besides, she said she’s concerned that the Xanti are in danger, which means she’ll want all of us to work together.”

  “Ridiculous,” Zarnia-Te spat. “That’s just another one of her little games.”

  “Nevertheless, I believe she will defend Mother.”

  “You may be right,” Zarnia-Te said thoughtfully. “I will attack Mother, you will stand back and act as though you are in a panic. Xaqana-Ti will then attack me, and you will jump in behind her.”

  “All right,” Narliq-Li said. “Just remember, I’m the smallest of the three of us. I doubt I’ll do much more than divert her for a moment.”

  “That will be enough,” Zarnia-Te replied.

  ***

  Glory turned off the vid-terminal, checked the time, then stretched before standing up and heading for the bathroom. She’d accepted an invitation to an early dinner with the Dracons and Lobos before joining them in the Pinnacle for the jump into the LMC. It was going to be an intense night, and she wanted a quick shower to help her relax from her long, stressful day first.

  From the moment she’d opened her eyes that morning, the problem of how to find the Tigren had been foremost in her mind. It’d been an almost constant worry on some level for days, but now it was nagging at her incessantly. She’d spent a couple of hours working out in the rec room, then spent another couple of hours sparring with a weapons-bot, but had failed to distract herself for so much as a moment. She’d finally given in and tried to do something constructive. Unfortunately, several hours at the vid-terminal searching for information on Dream Walking had yielded no help whatsoever.

  She reached into the shower to turn on the water when, out of nowhere, she was hit with a deep, compulsive need to talk to the Tigren. Not tonight, not after lunch, not after her shower, but right that very moment. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before, and she hesitated at first, wondering if the stressful day had gotten to her and she was imagining things. But the feeling didn’t go away. In fact, it got deeper and more compelling by the second until it became a sharp, physical need that she couldn’t ignore.

  She hurried out of the bathroom, grabbing the mosaic from the table where she’d left it. She climbed onto the bed, placing the mosaic in front of her so she could both see it, and touch it, if she needed to. She emptied her mind, entered the place of the Flame and the Door for the briefest of moments before conjuring up her dream valley. She’d never done it so quickly before, or with so little effort, but such was her worry that she didn’t even notice how easy it had been.

  “Kyerion?” she called, quelling the spike of fear she felt when she didn’t see them in the valley.

  “Glory?” he replied, his voice very faint, much like it had been before she’d started Dream Walking.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked, fear flooding her. “Why are you so weak?”

  “We don’t know,” he replied. “I’m sorry, Glory, but we aren’t strong enough to come to you.”

  Glory’s heart skipped a beat, but she raised her chin and pushed all fear and worry from her mind. “I’ll come to you and make you stronger.”

  “You will cause yourself harm,” Kyerion objected. Glory latched on to the thread of his voice and began feeding small amounts of her own energy into it as she followed it. Each time she Dream Walked she became stronger and more adept. She had a better understanding of her own energy now, of how much she could spare, and how to regulate it.

  “Hang on, I’m coming,” she said, racing along the thin thread. She looked down, checking to be sure she wasn’t fading as she’d done before, and stumbled in shock. Her valley was gone. Instead, she was in an enormous room filled with row upon endless row of clear tubes. There were thousands of them, divided into rectangular sections. Roughly two thirds were lit with a dim reddish light. The remaining third were mostly blue, with groups of white here and there. Her stomach lurched when she realized that each tube held a shadowy occupant.

  She didn’t understand what she was seeing exactly, but one thing she did know. This place was real. Somehow, after all her efforts, she’d entered the Tigrens’ reality without even meaning to. Now she just had to find them. She pulled her attention from the tubes and continued to follow Kyerion’s thread across the vast room. She had no idea of how far she’d gone before the thread began slanting downward. She followed it to a section of tubes that glowed with a soft blue light.

  She reached the floor and looked up to see Kyerion floating in a clear, viscous fluid. The tube to his left held Kirk, and the one to Kirk’s left held Cade. All three of them floated upright within their tubes, naked except for their arm bands and torcs, their long hair spread out behind them in dark clouds.

  “I’m here, Kyerion, standing in front of you,” she said, shocked at herself. “I can see all three of you. You’re in hibernation tanks. That’s why you can’t wake up. What’s happening to you?”

  “We don’t know,” he replied. “We are...fading. I don’t know how else to describe it. What is a hibernation tank?”

  “It’s a device that puts you in a deep sleep state where no time passes,” Glory said, using the simplest explanation she could come up with on such short notice. “There are thousands of them in here, wherever here is.”

  Glory fed small amounts of energy into each of the Tigren, monitoring her own strength carefully. While she did that, she studied the control panel on the front of Kyerion’s tank. None of the markings were in a language she recognized, which made the array of buttons, lights, and switches meaningless to her. She cut the flow of her energy into the Tigren. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

  Without even thinking about what she was doing, she lightly touched each of their minds. Kirk and Cade were too weak to communicate with her, but she sensed them listening from within Kyerion’s mind. Kyerion was still the strongest of them, but she knew it was her energy holding
their connection.

  Satisfied that they were all right for the time being, she rose back up into the air and looked around. There were no people in sight aside from those inside the tanks. No technicians or scientists or maintenance people. No one at all.

  As she searched the cavernous room for signs of life, she noted that each section contained about a hundred tubes. She went to a section of dark tubes and saw that the reddish light was coming from several tiny red lights on the front of each control panel. The tubes themselves were dark, but the reddish light was enough for her to see that the occupants were dead.

  She rose up high again, scanning the room once more for signs of life. As she watched, a blue section flickered several times before going dark. Her stomach rolled sickeningly.

  She returned to the Tigrens’ tubes and examined the control panels once more. She noticed that there was a small red light flashing in the upper right corner of all the tubes in this section. She rose up again and went to a section where the light was bright white. The same light was green on those control panels. She returned to the Tigrens’ tubes, her mind racing as she tried to put it all together.

  The Tigrens’ tanks were working for the moment, but she guessed that they’d failed for a short time, causing their current weakness and distress. Then, a backup system had kicked in, which explained the blue light. From the number of dark sections in the room, she didn’t think there was much chance anyone was going to come and fix the problem, whatever it was. Nor did she think the backup system would last very long.

  “Kyerion, I have to tell you something and it’s not good,” she said.

  “Whatever it is, Glory, we will deal with it,” he said, his voice calm as always.

  “There are thousands of hibernation tanks in this place, divided into sections of about a hundred each. The sections are failing, one by one. There’s no one here. No technicians or doctors or scientists. No one at all. The majority of the tanks have already shut down, and the occupants are dead. A handful are working normally. The rest, including your tanks, are on backup, and I don’t have any idea how long that will last. I have no idea what’s wrong, or how to fix it.”